Game console bundles shipped worldwide in 2013 will be
“marginally higher” than the 2012 total of about 33 million,
according to a report by IDC, a Framingham, Massachusetts-based
researcher. The lower price on Sony’s PlayStation 4 will help it
outsell Microsoft Xbox One, IDC said.

Sony’s first new console in seven years and the Xbox One
will reach U.S. stores next month, sparking consumer appetite
and giving the video-game industry a boost. The companies are
betting that faster machines with new features will draw gamers
in a marketplace that has shifted toward mobile games played on
tablets and smartphones like Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPhone.

IDC said that the Chinese government’s decision to lift the
ban on consoles will boost sales in the millions for Microsoft,
Sony and Nintendo Co. (7974), the maker of the Wii U.